Addendum to My Friend Emma Awarded Queen's Jubilee Medal blog post

Hello There, VivBounty here to add to the story of my friend, Emma Cormier being awarded the Queen's Jubiliee Medal.

It turns out my friend, Cathy Consentino of Timber River Farm Country Antiques was also awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal, but I did not find out until weeks after I attended Emma's ceremony. I certainly would have been there to celebrate with Cathy, had I known she was to be awarded or even if she had been invited to receive the award in person in a special ceremony like Emma's.

Cathy and Emma are just 2 of 60,000 deserving Canadians recognized during the year of celebrations, by being awarded the Queen's Jubilee Medal in 2012 for significant contributions and achievements, and as I have since discovered, not all recipients are invited to receive their honour in person in a formal ceremony. To my great disappointment, Cathy received her medal in the mail without any pomp, circumstance or pageantry and so I felt I must post this addendum in her honour.

I would be remiss if I did not share with you how much Cathy does for the region. Not only is she an antique dealer, with not one, but two antique stores, but she also finds time to be the President of PEDVAC, the Port Elgin District Voluntary Action Council, a registered charity which serves the surrounding district which runs from Cap Pele to the Nova Scotia border and from Halls Hill (Jolicure) to Cape Tormentine, on which board of directors Emma and I also serve, amongst others. PEDVAC offers a wide range of services including Food Bank, Christmas Boxes (food and gift boxes to families and individuals in need at Christmas), School Lunches, Boutique (A used clothing and household goods store which provides items from 25 cents to $4), Income Tax Preparation, Literacy, Youth At Risk, Advocacy, and Employment Opportunities (employing at least 3 people to make and sell products for social enterprise which makes mittens, pillows, and other items from recycled woollen and fleece items).

Cathy Consentino's volunteer experience and causes further include secretary of Port Elgin Housing Inc., a Social Services agency offering subsidized housing, she is board member/vice chair of Port Elgin Public Library and liaison member to Provincial Library Committee. Credit for content to Cathy's LinkedIn profile.

Manning the Timber River Antiques Shop in Summer 2012

The biggest reason that I write this post is to celebrate my friendship with this amazing lady who in addition to employing me from time to time in her shop with pay calling it a favour, has made me promise that I would never drive behind an ambulance alone again if ever, God forbid, my hubby (as it once happened) had to be rushed to a hospital in an emergency situation. She further clarified that it didn't matter what time of day or night, whatever weather, that I must call her and she would come with me. I would without a doubt do the same for her.

Congratulations Cathy, my friend on a well-deserved honour for your extraordinary service to our community, region, and like I mentioned in Emma's tribute, ultimately to Canada like Her Majesty The Queen who has been an extraordinary servant of her country, so are you to ours.

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Bountiful blessings to you and yours, 
VivBounty